Vintage Shopping: Inspired by Gucci

All the looks above are Fall 08 Gucci. It's bohemian, yes, but something is fresh.

What I notice as standouts that might be fun to find vintage:

The long maxi-dress.
Black velvet pieces.
Paisley.
Small print scarves, skirts, and dresses.

It might also be crucial to make friends with a tailor!

Gucci got it very right this season, there's so much to pick up on. I would start at Feathers on South Congress to score some of the paisley.

The scarf around the waist looks so sexy here, but it's SO hard to pull off. Leave that part out.

You're right. every time I try, I take it off. The scarf has to practically be designed with the dress.

(PS I love that hair.)

Extra chocolate and caramel please

The brown shades at Michael Kors really did it for me. I know real life browns rarely look as sexy as they do on the runway, but mixing different shades and overstating the accessories really makes this color pop.

Toughen up

Take those sweet chiffon ruffles and punk them up with some leather. Tough girls seemed to rule this go-round at the shows. Above, L'Wren Scott jumped in where Grey Ant left off (for me, anyway), with high waists and sexy, seventies cuts; Jenni Kayne added the right mix of accessories to sufficiently rock up her designs.

In action, below, Anne Hathaway pushes her Marchesa dress to lose its girly demeanor.

Hell yes Anne, do this more often!!!! I love fashion with an edge.

Proenza Schouler notes

Unexpected texture and color made the Proenza Schouler show one of the finest I've seen from NY Fashion Week. And this bow at the neck works; head movement should always be a factor in design (see Gwyneth, below). The interesting, deep palette freshly mixed deep colors with fall neutrals.

Wow, this is inspiring. I love the movement in each of these looks; I'm especially drawn to the blue and black ruffled look.

Also, the white dress with black tights looks very sharp.

Hustle & Flow

BCBG just drew me in. I fell for these dresses with their sexy draping and uptown palette.

As Style.com puts it, "BCBG Max Azria has blossomed from a girl into a woman, with a Fall collection of elegant jersey dancer dresses and Katharine Hepburn-style tailoring."

Pre-fall 08 shows

Zac Posen

Chanel


Chanel

It looks like the rules for Fall/Winter 07 will mostly still apply to Fall 08. For skirts, not much in-between: it was very short or very long, with maxi-skirts at Chanel.

Dresses are all over the place (ruffled or structured), but had shape.

Fun shocks of teal, ruby and purple were prevalent:

Luca Luca

Oscar de la Renta

Zac Posen

Love that dress above.

The only few surprises were white tights, which I noticed at several shows
(including the un-noteworthy- except for some nice use of yellow-
Dolce and Gabbana- maybe it was because it was all shown on mannequins?).

Otherwise, bell sleeves, grey, opaque tights, houndstooth...all sticking around.

Zac Posen

Valentino


Oscar de la Renta

Oscar was an anomaly, because overall, skirts are not mid-length, and very few belts; plus, Oscar was the only one with wider pant cuts (see above).

But, I do see some Sex and the City influence in his collection.
The movie comes out in May and will no doubt have a big impact on what's hot late next year.

Excellent recap Ams!!! And I'm loving the Zac Posen collection.
One trend that I expected not to see is bell-sleeves; isn't this a little tired?

Chanel is HOT, HOT, HOT.
I caught my mouth hanging open when I saw all of the coats and jackets for '08...really.
There was a very stated Amy Winehouse vibe, and I'm into it.
In fact, I'm throwing my hair into a bufont this afternoon, digging up my eyeliner and selling my kidney on Ebay to buy a Chanel coat.

This one will do:

Versace Spring 2008 Inspiration

Donatella delivered a beautiful collection composed of solid colors, monochromatic elegance, silk and simple-yet-bold ensembles at Fashion Week Milan.

One of the best collections of the spring, I think. Sexy and wearable, and not too Versace-esquely tight!

The look is finished with light makeup and minimal accessories to make sure every model looks cool and effortless- a look Donatella herself rarely exhibits.

Her end of show look was pretty good though!

It's heard to tell in this shot (all I see is blonde hair and green shoes).

Phillip Lim from the runway to red carpet

Phillip Lim's Spring '08 show was a bit disappointing. There were some interesting ideas, but I think the collection got lost in translation. The dress above is one of those pieces, on and off the runway.

I find off-the-shoulder dresses very sexy, but this is more off-the elbow. The length on Diane Kruger is too long, even though the color appears more vibrant. It desperately needs an accessory but neither of the options seem balanced.

Not into it....

What an ugly saggy bunch of fabric.

If it's unflattering on a model.... (need I say more?)

Jet-set Chic

I adore rich-bitch fashion like this!

This look is always comes back for a good reason: it's damn hot!

Michael Kors did a sumptuous show for men and women, with structured bags, gold and silver, cuff bracelets, and of course, belts.

Matthew Williamson was a little more hippie and ethnic, but like Kors, included metallic linen.

What's with the neon shoes? They're horrid.

Soft & Sweet at Jovovich-Hawk

The trends of Spring 08 seem to suit Jovovich-Hawk, with all their retro softness.

I'm sure I picked Carla's least favorite look, but hey, I liked it.

Indeed, this is my very least favorite look; but only because the white elastic straps that hold this dress together look stiff and uncomfortable.

I like their denim look and their take on the wrap dress:

More silver and hotness

Add to the list of hot shows that of Alexander Wang!

Very sexy and edgy and now.

You did it again! You found a really hot fashion show and picked my least favorite picture to represent!

Here are my picks:
Love these cut-offs paired with simple top:

Big hair, puffy sleeves, rolled up wide-legs....nice!

LAMB report, Houndstooth spotting

The LAMB show was very very Gwen. I am sure you know what I mean by that.

Houndstooth is ok for spring, but I say go for it in fall, by all means.

I agree, Houndstooth is totally fall gear. I'm ready to strip down my layers in the spring.

And may I just add that I am annoyed by Gwen taking her son out onto the runway? We get it, Gwen, you do it all! But you aren't fooling anyone into thinking that you were actually taking care of him backstage.

This just is not necessary and I think it makes her look show-offy. She proceeded to hand him to hubby Gavin, who was front row. (Insert annoyed look/sound here.)

I feel the same way. We get it. You do a lot....
I bet she played her music too.

From another wartime era

Lots of Forties fashion found on the runways for spring. Full pants & glamour dresses.

Some I like, some gets impractical for us real folks.

Above, Yigal Azrouel, Nicole Miller.

Believe it or not, Zac Posen designed this

It's for a good cause, though.

Zac teamed with DHL (yes, that DHL) for a bag to benefit TeachersCount, a national non-profit organization supporting the teaching profession.

He's probably a different Zac Posen, from the one that designed these beauties.

$400. But hey, free shipping from DHL.

If you're gonna do it, do it right

This wild piece looks great with all else streamlined.

Exquisite work Behnaz! There are so many beautiuful pieces for Fall '07 from you.

Above, Behnaz Sarafpour.

This is sticking

This long dress thing, that is.

I like it paired with the skinny belt. MK usually wears belts when she goes long.

Above, Michael Kors.

Why not start looking?

For a chic grey coat. A great investment and very now.

I like the idea of a gray coat. I think gray is the perfect shade to accommodate neon colors expected this fall. Neon colors....they make me nervous.

(Shown: Ruffian, Behnaz Sarafpour.)

Quickie Fall Report: Phi, Valentino

A couple looks from the Susan Dell-founded/Andreas Melbostad-designed line Phi (which I don't even think you can get in Austin):


I could do without the boots, but the quilting was around in several lines, like this little drop waist skirtie at Valentino:
The quilting ties in with patent very nicely. A good idea for fall!

Quickie Fall Report: Chaiken, 3.1 Phillip Lim

Just starting to think seriously about our shorty fall season and some things that might work here!

Chaiken had some great color and always features classic looks with a twist.

Both these pants look fresh:

Grey with black, or with green, or blue, or red...

And from 3.1 Phillip Lim, an easy look for Austin, and to make your own:

Both these designers are pretty easy to find in Austin. Fetish, Barney's Co-op, and Factory People (online) should be good places to look.

Both gray dresses are exquisite. I think that slim-cut dresses that land right below the knee are flattering and very sexy.